Acid Rain
by CheyF
Summary: Trouble pops up during shore leave!
1. Chapter 1

The market place was alive. She could hear laughter of high-pitched children's voices, and lower rumbles coming from the parents who watched. An exotic purple hue befell everything she. When she'd materialized at the center of the bustle, her ears had been attacked by a cacophony of sound, none of the melodious voices of the aliens could be distinguished from each other.

Kathryn felt odd here. Usually when the Voyager stumbled across a warp-capable culture, the people were... closer in appearance. She got many curious glances as she passed by the bartering and bargaining Toara. The Toara were tall and bulky, she could only imagine the challenge it was for the aliens to be as graceful as they appeared. Their skin radiated a dull yellowish color that would make most humans look sickly, but these aliens had bright blue, purple, or pinkish eyes that pulled together their entire serene air. The Toara were hairless except for an abundance of it on the top-most part of their heads, where most adorned long blond hair of all shades. They traditionally wore the locks in multiple braids that were twisted into neat bundles at the bases of their necks. Kathryn definitely felt out of place: short, and thin with peach colored skin, and copper hair.

She needed to find Chakotay, then at least she would be in more comfortable company.

She stepped past an empty marketing stall and rounded the corner to her left. A deep baritone voice floated to her. Kathryn's ears perked up at the sound, straining to discern the source. It was coming closer...

"I do believe your captain has already scheduled shore leave for most of the crew, but not for herself..." The two men passed her, a large Toaran man blocking her from the view of his companion. "The Ministry would be very delighted to have you and your captain honor us with your presence." Kathryn could hear the smile in the Director's voice. She followed behind them as they walked.

"I'll see what I can do, as you said though, Prallen, my captain is a stubborn woman, I will speak to her."

"That you will, and I wish you luck if she is as stubborn away from the negotiating tables, as she is at them."

The men were strolling away from the setting sun, and towards the dimmer, green sun.

Kathryn put her hand carefully on Chakotay's shoulder, sure not to startle him. "Gentlemen, may I join you?" They turned. Kathryn could see the laughter in Chakotay's eyes. He knew exactly how stubborn she could be.

The director hooked his arm with the captain's right. Kathryn offered her other arm to Chakotay. Another tradition in this society that echoed Earth custom. A sign of protection among the Toara people, when two or more persons were together as friends or more, they joined arms, if not to feel closeness, to publicly display friendship.

Kathryn shifted slightly to accommodate the high pull of the Director's arm. The magenta sun fully fell below the horizon, and the market was showered in a new, beautiful greenish-blue hue. The trio continued to stroll. The director smiled as he watched the awe on the commanding officers' faces. The stall attendants began closing, pulling brightly colored shades over their counters.

"It may rain this evening, I suggest you both be careful captain. Our storms are beautiful, but dangerous."

 _Like someone I know_. Kathryn thought as she smiled up at the director. At the same time she tightened her hold on Chakotay's arm.

Prallen disengaged his arm and turned to them. "Will you both be all right if I leave for my home currently?"

Chakotay looked for an answer from his Captain, she only nodded. "Yes, Director Prallen, we wish you good journey, many thanks."

Kathryn and Chakotay bowed their heads as he finished in a traditional valediction. "Good journey Voyagers, good night." He bowed his head, like the command team had, and turned away from them to continue ahead and to the right.


	2. Chapter 2

The scent wasn't earthly, it wasn't fresh, but it was intoxicating, it was sweet. The next day, Chakotay and Kathryn walked through the gardens that acted as limits to the city of Kalb, the Toaran's second biggest city. Director Prallen had given Chakotay directions to an area a couple kilometers out of the city. He had told the commander there were caves and caverns to explore during their shore leave. The Toara man had known exactly what would pique a Voyager's interest. Exploration? Why Not? Kathryn looked wide-eyed at the colors of the flowers and shrubs. There were combinations of blues and oranges that shimmered in the green light and brown-greys that appeared to sway without wind. She felt mesmerized.

Her arm still linked with Chakotay's, Kathryn barely noticed the changes under her feet. The short, neat grass gave way to a meter of stone, then soft, fine, grey sands dotted with boulders, eventually turning into the cave and cliff system a kilometer away. The hike was short and beautiful.

It looked like another spot of rain was headed their way. The drops were splashing on the rocks just a few feet away, creating a silvery glowing effect that made everything seem to ripple and shimmer.

Chakotay heard the woman beside him hiss between her teeth quietly. He looked down and to his side at his companion. "Okay?"

She only nodded. Unconsciously, rubbing the back of her hand on her pants.

"Where are we going?"

Chakotay had been surprised at first when Kathryn hadn't asked him about his intentions. They'd been walking for a while in a comfortable silence, and she hadn't mentioned anything to him that might hint at her restrained curiosity.

This time she gasped. Chakotay recognized that kind of intake of breath. It wasn't _nothing_ this time; something was causing his friend pain.

That's when he heard the sizzling. Something caused a pinching pain in Chakotay's right shoulder. He looked at his uniform...the grey turtleneck was exposed through his jacket, his skin red and angry in the small tear.

"Chakotay...it's acid!" Kathryn released his arm and grabbed his hand and started running forward. She could see the cliffs with gaping cave entrances protruding. It was only a hundred meters away. She could hear the cloth of their uniforms hissing under the attack of the acid, and she felt the accompanying pain of the rain as it melted through to the skin of her shoulders and arms underneath.

The rain began falling harder, splashing their faces and eating at their soles, it still tore through the command team's uniforms. The two dove for the cave and landed, entangled with each other on the ground, with a huff.

"Damn."

Chakotay felt his pain dissipate.

She never cursed. She had changed.

"Prallen could have at least warned us there was acid rain! Kathryn was mad...not yet furious, but mad. She wasn't ranting at Chakotay...more to herself. He leaned against one of the walls of the shallow cave, and watched as his captain stood and began pacing; a slight limp plaguing her left leg.

When she turned towards him he saw an angry, red, teardrop-shaped mark on her left cheek, it had a small stream of blood that navigated past her mouth and under the curve of her jaw winding downward with the gravity of the planet.

She fell out of step, then she slowed to a stop. She glanced down at her pants. Chakotay followed her gaze. The acid rain was spraying off of the rocks as it hit and some was making its way into the cave, occasionally sizzling as it hit her pants.

"I suggest we move further back."

She started pacing again, working her way further into the dark cave.

Janeway briefly ran the tips of the fingers of her right hand across the damp surface of the cave wall beside her.

They heard it at the same time. A handful of pebbles fell from the back wall of the cave, tumbling down the uneven rock. That was odd. The ground hadn't even rumbled this time. Chakotay stood from his pensive crouch and made it to the back wall before his captain. He ran his hands over the surface. The wall was warm, at least three degrees warmer than the cave. Kathryn put her hands against the wall and slid them over the surface.

Both of them leaned closer to the wall. There was something different, something wrong. The rock wasn't rock. It was a force field. Chakotay moved the palms of his hands in a wide sweep across the wall to his right then to the left. The force field was only two meters wide, and it didn't even go all the way to the roof of the cozy little cave.

Chakotay had an idea. He kicked at the bottom right corner of the force field, testing the rebound force. Surprisingly the field flickered out. Chakotay knew the Toara weren't as advanced as the Federation, he just hadn't realized how poorly developed their technology was. His companion gave him an unbelieving look.

"Not quite the standard procedure for disabling force fields, Commander, good job." A smile threatened the corners of her mouth.

The colors and textures of rock had disappeared from in front of the command team. Chakotay shrugged his shoulders and headed forward.

"Director Prallen said the caves were safe." Chakotay swore he almost saw her roll her eyes.

"Yes, but he didn't mention the acid rain." Chakotay smiled.

"He said the storms were beautiful and dangerous."

Janeway sighed. "That's true Chakotay, but how could a storm be beautiful when you're too busy getting burned to see it?" _You'd be surprised Kathryn._

The captain and commander strode silently through the winding, rock corridors. The fine sand beneath their feet turned to rock. Kathryn hesitated slightly when the rock and gravel transformed to a smooth metal. _Maybe we shouldn't be here..._

"Don't worry Kathryn, it may just be an old forgotten vault. Surly Prallen would have mentioned anything else to us. The force field was primitive compared to what I saw in Kalb."

She seemed to accept that.

Kathryn's boots made a soft clicking sound on the glimmering metal floors. Chakotay's steps were quiet. There were no doors to lead anywhere else. Every ten meters there was a sign in the Toaran language accompanied by a yellow arrow. They had to be heading somewhere. But where?


	3. Chapter 3

Minutes later, the command team came to a dead end in the hall, they could go through the door in front of them, or turn back in the direction of the cave they'd come in through.

Why not go ahead? Adventure, right?

Kathryn stayed rooted to her spot, for once giving Chakotay the choice of their fate. His eyes met hers, smiling. He slid the heavy door to the left

She heard a soft hissing sound when the heavy reflective door slid on its frame. Chakotay looked over his shoulder to make sure she was following him. Kathryn smiled gently.

A bitter, foul air filled her mouth and nose. She flinched. The entire room was stainless steel, there were no rock walls or sandy floors, every wall, every table, every instrument, everything she could see, was steel, the glittering panels reflected off of each other, doubling the bright overhead light's intensity. Kathryn had a bad feeling about this. Their hike and exploration in the "safe" caves had already been off to a rocky start, and she had worried about the artificial alterations to this cave. She worried she might have been wrong to trust the director or the people.

The captain restrained herself from walking up close to her first officer and just gripping on to him. This place was even more in-human than any other structures of Toara she'd been in. She needed more than anything another human being to be in existence with her, especially if what she thought she saw was what she really thought it was.

On one of the far tables there was an off-white sheet draped over the surface, the silhouette of an unmoving humanoid body outlined in the clean cloth sheet. Kathryn felt what little was in her stomach punching at the walls of her throat, attempting to reverse the path it had taken earlier. A sour taste invaded her mouth and she forced herself to swallow.

She realized Chakotay had walked further into the room, he was about to pass the sheet covered table. She swallowed again. The muscles in her throat started burning, contracting painfully. She gained control of her limbs for a moment, long enough for her to force herself forward, and through the forest of steel.

The commander didn't pass the table, instead, he stopped at the end. He lifted the edge of the sheet quietly. A strange emotion flashed through his eyes for but a moment. The change in his demeanor disappeared before the sheet had time to float back down from his hands. He stood, dazed.

The captain, in full command mode strode to the catatonic man. She reached to lift the edge of the sheet, but Chakotay had gripped her wrists before she had a chance. "Chakotay? What is it?!" He released her and his hands went limply to his sides. His eyes suddenly couldn't get enough of an invisible smudge on the floor.

Captain Kathryn Janeway's mouth dropped imperceptibly. She let her eyes move between the man at her side, and the pale, cold, *human* on the table. "Oh my God..." Chakotay looked up at her. "Chakotay...it's...you..."


	4. Chapter 4

It was no mistake...at least from what Kathryn could tell...Chakotay, or rather another Chakotay was lying dead on that cold metal table. Kathryn let the sheet drop from her hands and she turned her back to the table to face the shocked commander.

There was a clicking from the other side of the door nearest to them. Chakotay grabbed his Captain out of reflex and dove behind the table.

When the human walked in Kathryn nearly gasped...Chakotay gently covered her mouth with his free hand.

Another Kathryn Janeway had walked in the door. She was standing less than two meters from the command team.

It took all of Chakotay's control to refrain from reacting to his Kathryn. She was pinned with her back against his chest, breathing calmly from behind his hand. Both of his arms moved down slowly as they watched a Toara woman walk in behind the other Kathryn.

The second Kathryn's eyes were glazed over and her arms hung limply at her sides. She walked slowly, but there was a tense atmosphere about her.

The command team watched the other Kathryn swing around suddenly and train her eyes on them. There was a fire in her eyes. The Toaran woman looked in their direction and narrowed her eyes. The captain's clone let out a war cry and charged the Toaran. It was their chance to get away. As the Command team ran for the door they came through, the Captain hit her comm badge. No use. The caves were interfering with the signal.

Behind them they heard the Toaran wail, and then everything went deadly silent. The other Kathryn came running up behind them, out of breath. She had a trickle of blood coming from her temple, but she wasn't injured. She held a bloody metal instrument in her right hand. They had no choice but to let her come with them.

Chakotay's hand found his Kathryn's hand in the dark of the corridor. The facility was under alert. The lights were lowered to almost nothing and the three humans could hear foot falls echoing from somewhere on the other side of the walls.

Chakotay was the first to make it through the opening into the cave. He urged the women to go in front of him. He eyed the other Kathryn. She looked exactly like his friend.

With no warning the clone grabbed Kathryn by her hair. Both women were thrust outside of the cave's protection into the stinging, raging storm. Chakotay scrambled to the cave opening.

If he heard what he thought he did, his Kathryn growled. He wasn't sure though...Both were dressed in a Star Fleet Uniform...and they looked too much alike...Chakotay tried his best to keep the differences straight. It was a losing battle when he realized that Kathryn had lost her comm badge in the struggle.

The women were in the thick of the rain tumbling on the ground with each other. It was pure agony to Chakotay's ears. He heard both of them moan and whimper as the acid in the rain tore through their uniforms, and as they scratched and kneed each other repeatedly. He had to do something. He tried to communicate with the ship once more, still unsuccessful.

He plunged into the hard rain and ran for the brawl. Both women were stronger than they looked. Chakotay pulled with everything he had at the Kathryn on top. He disengaged her from her counterpart and she turned on him, eyes wild with fury. Definitely...not his Kathryn... Or was it?

One Kathryn helped him to restrain the other that he barely held in his arms. Chakotay looked at her. His Kathryn was covered in a mix of her own blood, shreds of her uniform, and some of the grey mud. She frowned at him as they moved back into the shelter of the cave. He noticed she winced in pain. Acid had burned streaking patterns across her face, back, and arms.

The woman in his arms fell unconscious. Her features began to change. "They knew we'd find that lab Chakotay, and they knew we'd go there. Prallen sent us here on purpose." Her voice was soft. The second Kathryn took the shape of a young Toaran female. Her skin began to heat up.

"Kathryn, we need to get out of here." He was panicking more on the inside than he dared to show. Staying with the clone, the girl, was becoming increasingly unpredictable and dangerous. The Toaran's skin was becoming intolerably hot. They could either go back to the labs, or back out into the storm, but they couldn't stay here. The dull yellow skin on the woman was turning a deep pink. Kathryn started thinking on the same wave length.

Chakotay laid the alien on the ground and grabbed hold of his Kathryn's arm. They ran together, away from the cave, shielding their eyes from the rain.

Behind them a loud explosion racked the solid walls of the rock face. A self-destruct? Nothing catastrophic, but the cave collapsed under the pressure. Nothing they hadn't seen before, but the planet's atmosphere carried the shockwave differently. The command team was thrown unceremoniously to the ground with the force. They stumbled back to their feet just as the blue light of the tingling transporter beam caught their bodies, summoning them to Voyager.

The Lieutenant at the controls in transporter room two cocked his head to the side. His commanding officers looked like...well, excrement. The captain collapsed onto the transporter pad.

"Beam us to sickbay Lieutenant." The operator acknowledged Chakotay and entered the command.


	5. Chapter 5

Tuvok, who'd stayed on the ship during most of the crew's shore leave had noticed the explosion in the caves and acted quickly to transport his superior officers up. After getting their report on the events, he recalled crew from leave and contacted the government. They feigned surprise at the operation in the caves, but quickly got angry as he continued to question their motives and knowledge of the situation. Voyager had already gotten supplies on board earlier in the week, so they only had to wait for the last crewman to return to leave. They did so with haste, worried about the duplicitous nature of their new "friends". They could do without encountering the Toarans again.

Who knew how many of the crew had been violated, their DNA stolen and used for, what purpose?

Why did the Delta Quadrant just seem like the bad part of town, all. of. the. time.

Hours later, in her quarters, Chakotay noticed that Kathryn held the coffee in her hands as if she was drawing a warm strength from the liquid.

"You have to promise me to stay off duty for at least a day, if you won't listen to the doctor, and stay away from work for two days, just listen to me, and rest for one." He smiled at her, breaking out the dimples.

"Fine."

Kathryn's voice was tired.

"You know..." Chakotay shifted in his seat, closer to Kathryn. "...I'd kiss you if I were completely sure you weren't a clone."

She looked up from her steaming cup.

"How'd you know which one was me?" Her eyes pierced into his own.

"Earlier...before we went into the laboratories, some of the rain from the storm had burnt your cheek. It was shaped like a tear drop. The other Kathryn didn't have that burn on her face. You know, not all tears are invisible in the rain."

She smiled.

"Kiss me, you mushy fool."

He smiled and drew her close to him. Their lips met. Before Kathryn lost all rational thought, she smiled against Chakotay's lips. And reached around him to put down her mug. She was glad they could indulge each other in the privacy of quarters rather than being stuck in sick bay. She didn't want to ruin it by scalding him with coffee like she had last week when they'd gotten a bit rowdy in the ready room.


End file.
